Mechanisms for storage and processing of digital content on various media have been defined for various digital content playback systems. Recently, the resolution of digital content has increased. This content is now referred to as high definition digital content (HDDC). Current storage structures and playback mechanisms were not designed specifically for HDDC. There is a need for new storage structures and playback mechanisms for HDDC that introduce as little impact on current storage structures and play back mechanisms as possible. These new storage structures and playback mechanisms will preferably support methods to prevent unauthorized access to the HDDC and to track any unauthorized access to HDDC. It is also desired that these new structures and playback mechanisms will support trick playback modes. The present invention broadly relates to and provides a solution to these problems.
While the description which follows may sometimes be described in the context of audio/video/data as an example of content, the invention is not so limited and may equally apply to any type of information or content data, including without limitation audio and/or video data or other type of data or executables.
The invention is described in terms of the current best mode. This best mode is described as extensions of the DVD Specifications for Read-Only Disc (described in “DVD Specifications for Read-Only Disc”, Version 1.1, December 1997 by Toshiba Corporation) to support high resolution, encrypted and actively watermarked content. Media conforming to these extensions are referred to in this document as HD-DVD. Playback mechanisms which present the HDDC content to an ATSC/HDTV compatible receiver are also disclosed. These mechanism allow graphics, trick modes, and watermarking to be extended to HDTV. One skilled in the art can see that although the present invention is described in terms of HD-DVD, the invention may be practiced on any digital storage media including hard disks, magnetic tape, and other optical discs.
The present application is directed to the same general technology as co pending commonly assigned patent application Serial No. PCT/US00/00079, entitled “Content Packet Distribution” naming Schumann et al. as inventors (the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein). This application is directed more to specific storage structures and playback mechanisms including watermark insertion, trick modes, and ATSC stream generation.
In some commercial applications, where the content includes, for example, valuable audio or video content, unauthorized access by those who obtain the content may tend to reduce the profit margin of the content provider(s), who typically provide the content, e.g. to various listener and/or viewers, for a fee. In particular, with the advent of high definition video, this problem is even more serious because the digital data is of sufficient resolution to be shown on a full size theater screen. This opens up a whole new area for content pirates to market their stolen property. If the unauthorized accesser is a content pirate, he or she may pose a serious threat to a content provider by inducing others to pirate the content as well. More particularly, the pirate may generally sell pirated access to the content at a lower cost than the legitimate content provider because the pirate obtains access to the content by using the legitimate provider's infrastructure and therefore does not have to invest resources to produce and disseminate the content. This becomes even a greater concern where the pirate may copy and mass produce a relatively inexpensive component which allows a large number of users to obtain access to the content without authorization by the legitimate content provider. As a result, content providers have resorted to increasingly expensive and complex schemes to prevent unauthorized access to their information and content, i.e. to prevent pirating.
What is needed is a system and method for protecting valuable content; a method and system which is robust, which may be tailored to the needs of a particular content provider, and which overcomes the above noted deficiencies.